Episode 2 of Halo 4 tie-in Forward Unto Dawn is now live, and with the characters somewhat established, we get a little more action this time. There’s a mess hall punch-up between our protagonist Thomas Lasky and a rival squadmate, and then we get to see a bit of classic Halo 2-flag CTF – although we don’t get to see anyone jumping and throwing the flag… A missed opportunity perhaps?

There’s also an interesting sneak peak into Cortana’s state of mind in Halo 4 at the start of the episode, with the Smart AI commenting that she and the Chief have been adrift in the remains of the Forward Unto Dawn for over four years, leaving her with nothing to do but think. Avid Halo fans should know that UNSC Smart AIs have a seven-year lifespan, after which they begin to think themselves to death, so it’ll be interesting to see how this plays into Cortana’s condition across the length of the game. Oh, and if you like easter eggs, the eagle-eyed among you should be able to spot Halo franchise development director Frank O’Connor playing a janitor at around the five-minute mark.

Going by the end-of-episode teaser, it looks like it’ll all be kicking off next week – we get a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shot of an Elite getting up close and personal with some poor human, which hopefully means we’ll shortly be seeing the Chief in action!

See Forward Unto Dawn episode 2 below – and don’t forget to set it to 720p.

I’m really enjoying it too. Loving the whole tone of it so far, and hopefully the Covenant will look believable. I’m wondering if they’ll seek to keep costs down and believability up by merely giving us quick-edit glimpses.